RIBA publishes ’10 characteristics of Places where people want to live’

The Royal Institute of British Architects has published a report in response to the Letwin Independent Review of Build Out rates. It addresses the finding that

“If either the major house builders themselves, or others, were to offer much more housing of varying types, designs and tenures on the large sites that matched appropriately the desires of communities, then the overall absorption rates could be substantially accelerated.”

Included in the report are a number of interesting statements including

“NECESSARY CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESSFUL PLACEMAKING
• Consistent engagement with all relevant stakeholders from an early stage”

and

“The focus of the current planning system is skewed in favour of increasing housing numbers at the expense of good design and creating sustainable, liveable places. This has inevitably perpetuated an environment of resentment towards development among local residents. Communities feeling locked out of the decision-making process is symptomatic of the wider problem where development comes forward only in the context of numbers of homes supplied.”